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This was a decent collection of mixed tales from Neil Gaiman. The thing about them is that they are such a mixed bag that you will find those that you really enjoy and those that you do not at all. That is the conundrum. The introduction tries to get you to understand that these tales reach for a "trigger warning" of the different themes (typically death, fear, abuse, etc) that are associated with the works. Nevertheless, it is work reading.

As the back cover of this volume, ‘Trigger Warning: Short Stories & Disturbances’, shows, Neil Gaiman is a writer who gets rave reviews even in the quality press, a part of the fourth estate where fantasy and Science Fiction used to get short shrift. His novels top bestseller lists and win awards but short story collections by even the greatest are, alas, difficult to sell nowadays. Happily, he loves them and continues to produce them and this book is a nice mixture of short stories, shorter shorts, very short shorts indeed and poems.

I’ll start with a few of the longer shorts.

There’s always been a lot of pressure on teenage lads to get a girlfriend, now more than ever, so it’s not surprising that some might lie to impress their mates. ‘The Thing About Cassandra’ is based on a clever premise and proceeds with it quite nicely but I found the end a bit flat. It’s worth mentioning here that Gaiman portrays real, everyday life in modern England very accurately. A man chatting to his mum or mates out for a few pints, edgy first dates and so on. This is probably what makes the fantastic or horrific twist work so well when it happens. Stephen King does the same trick with carefully crafted mundane American life.

Another of the longer stories is ‘Black Dog’, about a traveller in the English countryside who falls in with an odd couple and discovers an ancient secret. It stands alone very well but is probably even better if you’ve read Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’ as it features Shadow Moon, a character from that novel.

A few of the tales are about other people’s characters. There’s a delightful Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Case Of Death And Honey’ which makes it clear why the great detective took up beekeeping in retirement. Set far from the foggy London underworld, it’s not at all what you would expect.

The ‘Doctor Who story,’ on the other hand, is what you would expect if you’re a fan of the show. It’s clever and involves big concepts and a bit of Time Lord history, too. ‘Nothing O’Clock’ was previously published in ‘Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories’ so if you’re a rabid Who fan who isn’t interested in the other stuff you don’t need to buy this book to get it, you can buy that one. Gaiman won’t mind. He’s a fan himself and sells quite a lot of books anyway.

‘The Thin White Duke’ is a fantasy that’s kind of about the Bowie character of that name but I should point out that ‘Diamonds And Pearls: A Fairy Tale’ has nothing to do with Prince, even though the late lamented had a name fit for such a story. He was still around when this was published.

‘The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains…’ is set in Scotland. A dwarf turns up at the house of Callum MacInnes and asks to be taken to the Misty Isle where there is a cave he seeks. The dwarf has secrets that are slowly revealed as the tale progresses. Gaiman tells it in gentle, rhythmic prose like a classic fairy tale but there is plenty of darkness here, not just in the cave. It won both the Shirley Jackson and Locus Awards for best novelette and it’s a treat. The book is worth buying if only for this.

There are, however, many other reasons to buy it. Some of the shorter tales are startlingly effective and Gaiman manages to get a lot of impact with few words. ‘Jerusalem’ is nicely evocative of the extreme atmosphere of that place and tells a story, too. ‘Click-Clack The Rattlebag’ has a nice young man putting his girlfriend’s little brother to bed because the little chap is scared then getting scared himself.

At his best, Gaiman can out-Bradbury Ray Bradbury. He pays homage to his predecessor with ‘The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury’. Not a particularly great yarn but does a nice job of referencing the best stuff from that classic author.

The sheer quantity of briefer works means that it would be tedious to mention them all individually so I’ll focus on the highlights. ’Down To A Sunless Sea’ is a shipwreck story with a nasty twist. ‘My Last Landlady’ is set in the seedy Brighton of old and laid out like a poem but that works in getting the story across. ‘A Calendar Of Tales’ consists of a dozen short shorts of varying quality. In general, these are quite good, given the limitations of the form, and even the poetry makes sense

The legions of would-be, amateur and semi-pro writers like a collection that has some words from the author about how the stories came to be. Gaiman admits in his introduction that he liked those sorts of collections, too, especially from his favourite writers like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison. Therefore he gives us that kind of introduction with a bit of information on every story. It’s interesting.

It seems to me that the fantasists are better writers or at least better prose stylists, than Science Fiction writers. This may be because the latter are focused on new ideas and need clarity more than anything else while the fantasists are, let’s face it, recycling the same hoary old stuff about ghosts, goblins, vampires, werewolves and so forth and rely more on mood and character. The best writers I have read in my long reviewing career are Fred Chappell and Peter S. Beagle. Neil Gaiman is in their league. He doesn’t always hit the spot – what author does? – but work like ‘The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains…’ puts him up there in the first division. His outpourings are recommended by Philip Pullman, A.S. Byatt, Hugo Rifkind and, for what it’s worth, me.

This book is that uneasy feeling of visiting an abandoned building. It's the knowledge that there are dark things waiting for you to fall, anytime, any place. It's the folk tale that refuses to go away despite the multiple attacks from reason and common sense. It's the legend that declares the end of all things, and the prophecy that led a man to an early grave.

It's a book by Neil Gaiman. With all the wonderful and terrible things that come from his head. ( )

Trigger Warning is a collection of short stories and some poems by Neil Gaiman. What I like about collections like this one is that they usually have something for us all. Not everything is to one's liking, but if you are lucky most are. And, Trigger Warning is mostly, in my opinion, a very good collection of stories. Of course, some are better than the others and I think personally I liked the ones that were a bit longer. The "bad" thing with collections like this is they are sometimes hard to put down because it so easy to just say to yourself "just one more story" they are short. And, then you happen to stumble over a Doctor Who story that isn't that short, but you have to read it because it is Doctor Who, even despite the fact that is an 11 Doctor story (Long story short, not my favorite Doctor).

Anyway, instead of writing about every story in this collection will I mention some of my favorites like:

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains, one of the longest stories in this book and a very intriguing to read.

Orange, the kind of story that grows on you. I found questionnaire format of the story odd in the beginning, but then I started to like it.

The Case of Death and Honey, a Sherlock Holmes story, I have read it before in another collection, but I read it again since it was a while ago. One of the best Sherlock Holmes short stories I have ever read and I have a feeling I like it even better than the first time I read it.

Jerusalem, what I enjoyed with this story was that I had no idea that Jerusalem Syndrome was a thing and I really enjoyed the wonderful twist in the story. Would I dare travel to Jerusalem in the future?

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the only story in this collection that actually was a bit scary. I mean I wasn't scared when I read it but reading this when you are alone in a house and hearing sounds in the attic would probably not be that nice.

"And Weep, Like Alexander", oh that ending, marvelous! A charming and funny story.

Nothing O´Clock, the Doctor Who story and as I wrote above not my favorite Doctor but Gaiman can write stories so good that I enjoyed this one despite that. And last but not the least,

The Sleeper and the Spindle, for some reason I thought the title was the Sleeper and the Spider. I think sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. Anyway, Spindle makes much more sense and I liked this once upon a time story very much.

There are several other good stories, but these are some that I appreciated.

Thanks to William Morrow and Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!( )

I'm not sure how I wound up with an honourable Hollywood agent who reads books for pleasure but I did, eighteen years ago. He's still my agent, still honourable, and he still likes short stories best of all. This book of tales is for Jon Levin.

First words

There are things that upset us.

Quotations

Last words

Shadow thought about the matter for a little while, and told her that he guessed that it probably did.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Contains the following short stories/poems:Making a ChairA Lunar LabyrinthThe Thing About CassandraDown to a Sunless Sea'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Montains ...'My Last LandladyAdventure StoryOrangeA Calendar of TalesThe Case of Death and HoneyThe Man Who Forgot Ray BradburyJerusalemClick-Clack the RattlebagAn Invocation of Incuriosity'And Weep, Like Alexander'Nothing O'ClockDiamonds and Pearls: A Fairy TaleThe Return of the Thin White DukeFeminine EndingsObserving the FormalitiesThe Sleeper and the SpindleWitch WorkIn Relig OdhráinBlack Dog

Also contains an interview with the author in Extra Material in the appendix.

Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things—which includes a never-before published American Gods story, “Black Dog,” written exclusively for this volume.

In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction—stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013—as well “Black Dog,” a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience A Calendar of Tales are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year—stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother’s Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale The Case of Death and Honey. And Click-Clack the Rattlebag explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we’re all alone in the darkness.

A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.

This third collection of short fiction by Gaiman includes previously published pieces of short fiction -- stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013 -- as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods.